India, Singapore discuss collaboration in curriculum development, teacher training and student internships

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday met with his Singaporean counterpart Chan Chun Sing in Singapore City and discussed collaboration in curriculum development, teacher training, and student mobility.

The two leaders also shared ideas on academic and research collaboration through the twining of schools and universities.

Taking to X, Pradhan, who is on a two-day visit to Singapore, said, “Pleasure meeting my Singaporean counterpart, Minister for Education, Chan Chun Sing. Productive conversations on further deepening engagements in all areas of education.”

“Minister Chan and I explored collaboration in curriculum development, pedagogy and capacity building of our teachers through a partnership between the National Institution of Education Singapore and NCERT. We discussed the possibility of overseas internship opportunities for our students in Indian and Singaporean companies. We also shared ideas on academic and research collaboration through twining of our schools and universities,” the post further read.

Pradhan futher invited Minister Chan to visit India to further mutual interests in education.

Pradhan’s visit to Singapore is part of a week-long tour to strengthen educational cooperation with both Singapore and Australia.

As part of his agenda in Singapore, Pradhan visited the National University of Singapore (NUS), where he met with President Professor Tan Eng Chye to explore research collaborations between NUS and top Indian higher education institutions (HEIs) in areas such as medical technology, start-ups, and digitalisation.

In another post on X, Pradhan said that NUS and Indian HEIs can collaborate and create value in the areas of deep start-ups, medical, health, advanced materials, digitalisation and sustainability among others.

“President of @NUSingapore, Professor Tan Eng Chye and I had substantive conversations on leveraging complementary strengths for building knowledge bridges, strengthening academic and research collaborations and deepening engagements between NUS and top Indian HEIs on all academic fronts,” the post read, adding that enhancing access to quality higher education for India’s youth and internationalisation of India’s education is a key focus area of NEP 2020.

Pradhan is on a visit to Singapore and Australia from October 20-26, 2024.

The visit is expected to foster collaboration, participation, and synergy in critical areas of mutual interest in education.

During the three-day visit to Australia, the Minister, in Melbourne, will meet with Jason Clare MP, Minister for Education. Pradhan will also deliver the Plenary address at the Australian International Education Conference.

The Minister will be visiting the South Melbourne Primary School which is known for integrated approaches to learning. He will visit ‘Discovery to Device’ at RMIT University which is a unique centre for MedTech prototyping and manufacturing. The visit will explore collaborative approaches to the commercialisation of medical technologies and the role of industry-academia linkages in driving innovation. Pradhan will meet Jacinta Allan MP, Premiere of Victoria along with Australian Education Minister Hon Jason Clare MP.

He will also visit Monash University to observe their Innovation Lab and Centre for Nano-fabrication.

During his stay in Melbourne, Pradhan will also interact with senior academics of Indian origin. To explore opportunities for partnerships in educating early childhood education workforces, Pradhan will visit Auburn Long Day Child Care Centre in Sydney on October 24.